From cleaning your grill to making a cheesy keto treat, there's more to onions than meets the eye. Time to peel back the layers and reveal the incredible inner potential of this humble bulb!
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00:00From cleaning your grill to making a cheesy keto treat, there's more to onions than meets the eye.
00:07Time to peel back the layers and reveal the incredible inner potential of this humble bulb.
00:12If you've ever eaten an onion ring, and why on earth would you not have?
00:16Then you'll know how frustrating it is when the crumbs come away from the onion.
00:20Instead of that perfect bite that's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside,
00:25you'll get a mouthful of crumbs.
00:27You can also end up with a piece of onion hanging free that can taste a bit wet, too.
00:34But fear not, for there's a nifty hack that solves this small yet common problem.
00:39And since onion rings are hugely popular, you may end up using this tip posted on TikTok
00:44time and time again.
00:45Freeze the onion after it's cut into rings, then defrost by running under warm water.
00:51Next, remove the thin membrane on the inside of the ring.
00:54So it's important to note that by freezing and defrosting your onion, you're going to
00:57lose some of the characteristic pungency of the onion.
01:00So if you're a big fan of that, you may not like this hack.
01:02When the onion rings are breaded, the coating won't slide off.
01:05One comment suggests you can remove this layer by soaking the rings in iced water,
01:10while another suggests it'll come off underwater without freezing first.
01:13It really depends on how much effort you're prepared to put into a hack,
01:16even if it does make chowing down on onion rings that much more appetizing.
01:21Did someone say cheesy onion rings?
01:24Woo!
01:26Woo!
01:28Woo!
01:31That's right, and if you're following the keto diet or trying to cut down on carbs,
01:35then this creative hack is for you.
01:37Even if you're not, the idea of onion rings made with cheese is too tempting not to try,
01:42especially if you want to enjoy the crunch of a freshly cooked onion ring without breadcrumbs
01:46or batter.
01:47These onion rings look more like onion waffles, and that's because they're made using a mini
01:52waffle iron.
01:53You'll need to spray the hot surface of your waffle maker with oil and add some cheese.
01:57It's up to you what you choose, but mozzarella works well.
02:00As the cheese starts to melt, add in sections of the onion ring,
02:04laying them next to each other to fill the circle of cheese.
02:07Sprinkle on garlic powder and top with more cheese.
02:10Close the lid and cook for a few minutes before removing your onion ring waffle and letting it
02:15cool and soak up any excess oil on a paper towel.
02:18It's now ready to bite into and enjoy that satisfying onion ring crunch.
02:22When you get grilling, do you really go for it and sizzle lots of marinated meats,
02:26or perhaps load up on some plant-based barbecue recipes?
02:29After a while, your grill can get a bit clogged with stuck-on ingredients.
02:34This means that fresh food you might add get burnt bits sticking to it,
02:37or even the taste of whatever you've cooked up before,
02:40and you're just not going to get that fresh taste if your cooking surface isn't clean.
02:44That's why you'll want to keep a few raw onions handy for your next cookout.
02:48Why?
02:48Well, you'll need them to rub the grates on your grill with half an onion that's been peeled.
02:52You first let your grill heat up so the temperature is pretty high.
02:56Stab your half onion on the rounded part so it's firmly stuck on the end of a fork.
03:01Rub the cut side along the grill.
03:03The juices will steam up, helping get rid of any burnt-on food on the grates.
03:07As well as cleaning a grill with an onion, cook another onion on the grill.
03:11Cut round slices of onion, marinade, and spear with a metal skewer, adding a few to one prong.
03:17Flip to cook on both sides until they're lovely and caramelized.
03:21Unless you particularly enjoy biting into a whole raw onion,
03:24you're more than likely going to cut it down to size in one way or another.
03:28Most recipes are quite specific about what size pieces your onion should be, and how to cook them.
03:34A lot of the time you're required to dice an onion,
03:36and with this vegetable appearing in so many dishes,
03:38it's a good idea to have a chopping technique that works.
03:41If you find that you're slipping around with slices all over the board as you try and cut
03:46into them, then a viral TikTok hack on how to dice onions more easily could resonate.
03:50Chop the tip of an onion so that it's flat on the bottom,
03:54and it sits up on your chopping board vertically.
03:56Make sure to peel it first, unless you enjoy the taste of the papery outer skin of onions in your
04:01food. And unless you use your tears to season the onions, whatever you do, don't cut off the end
04:06with the root. In centimeter gaps, make cuts from the core at the top downward,
04:11through the curved sides of the onion, creating segments like an orange.
04:14Turn the onion onto its side and slide downward, so you're in effect cutting across the onion.
04:20As you slice, diced onion pieces will fall down onto the board.
04:24It's always fun when there's more than one hack to tackle the same issue.
04:28It means you can try them all and find out which one works best for you.
04:31So if you're on a quest to stop blubbering every time you want to make some homemade
04:35baked onion rings, you might want to grab a few sheets of kitchen towels before you
04:39start cutting your onion. One of the best ways to avoid crying while cutting onions
04:43is to use a sharp knife. The reason being is that the membranes within the cells of
04:48the vegetable are less broken down. As a result, less of the pungent gas can escape.
04:54Aside from this, it's suggested that you wear a damp paper towel around your neck,
04:58at the front, to stop the released gases from reaching your eyes and nose.
05:02Or you could take some advice from this viral TikTok that states that the acid in onions is
05:07attracted to the nearest water source, which is often your tear ducts. So how do you prevent that
05:12from happening?
05:13"...get a damp paper towel, fold it up, keep it on your cutting board,
05:17that acid will be drawn to the wet paper towel and not your tear ducts."
05:22You know how it goes. You add onion to a recipe, only to find that you've got a whole bag full of
05:27these bulbs, and you're not quite sure how to get through them. There are only so many
05:30onion-based recipes, after all, and even those often don't call for lots of bulbs.
05:35For example, caramelized onion hummus only uses one large onion. If you're a fan of sharp, tangy,
05:41vinegary taste, then why not put your onions into a jar and pickle them?
05:45Here's what you'll need to do. Thinly slice the red onion and cover it with a marinade.
05:49The marinade is a simple concoction of apple cider vinegar, sugar, and salt. You can also
05:55add some herbs in there, too, if you like. It's really up to you. For every red onion used,
06:00marinate it in a half a cup of vinegar, with a teaspoon of sugar and one and a half teaspoons
06:05of kosher salt. Refrigerate with the onion slices covered completely. While you could
06:09dig in after just 10 minutes, you really want to leave the jar for at least an hour,
06:13if not overnight or longer. They'll turn a lovely pink color as they pickle,
06:18making a tart topping for a tuna fish sandwich or a sweet-sour condiment served with tacos.
06:23So, you've cut the ends off your onion and yanked the peel off, and another layer or two of onion
06:28has come away with that. The vegetable that's ready for chopping on your board suddenly looks
06:33a lot smaller than it once did. According to one TikToker, too many people are guilty of
06:38unnecessarily wasting too much of their bulbs. So with that...
06:41"...let's not waste any more onions."
06:43...the post focuses on the misguided way people are often taught to cut onions.
06:47"...cut off the root end, cut off the bottom, put it down, and now cut it in half. I'm sorry,
06:52but wasteful and wrong."
06:54The issue is that there's quite a bit of onion on these cut ends, which are generally discarded.
07:00The right way, apparently, is to not cut either end and cut lengthways, from each end,
07:06down the middle. At the tip end, cut off a small amount so you're just getting rid of the ends of
07:10the skin. You don't need to take the other end off, as this is the tear-inducing root,
07:15and it's simply not necessary.